RESTART
by Carify
Summary: Sequel to Nightmaric End. Two friends discover the arcade's secrets and play as Vanellope throughout many games guarded by Turbo's mutated minions. Vanellope must conquer the horrors of Turbo's wrath and take him down to bring peace to the arcade. Our wor
1. The Awakening

.:**RESTART**:.

Warning

This fanfiction is a sequal to _Nightmaric_ _End_, after the Arcade has been shut down. All rights belong to Disney. Intense blood, gore, violence, and mild language is in store. Reader discretion is advised.

**.:Chapter 1:.**

* * *

><p>A night had never seemed to cold, yet so perfect for the stalking. Crunching of crisp fallen leaves could barely be heard through the howl of cold winds that swept over the parking lot of the old arcade that could send shivers down your spine. There were no clouds, just small sparkling stars and an almost faded waning crescent moon that offered little light.<p>

"Got the camera?" spoke a young feminine voice in a hushed tone. The windows of the store were filthy and littered with old faded signs, as if gray dirt and dust has been thickly pasted to it layer after layer. Only the center of the windows were somewhat see-through, though there was nothing inside that could be seen; only darkness, giving it an eerie appearance.

"Yeah. Think we'll catch anything?" said a male voice, young in pitch. The faded yellow bricks of the arcade were stained with red rust streaks that leaked from the roof which was sunken in and dilapidated, the clay shingles cracked and barely held together.

"No, I don't think the place is haunted." the girl responded, her shadowy figure barely noticeable in the dark shadows with only the moonlight illuminating her figure in a dim silhouette. The baseball cage was rusted with holes in the netting from where animals had torn through and rehabilitated themselves inside, nesting in the old baseball machinery that sat inside.

"I think its haunted by Litwak. Rumor says the games came to life and killed him, so now he haunts the arcade and traps kids inside if they try to play any of the games." the boy said with an uncanny resonance, as all ghost stories should be spoken in. The parking lot was gray and cracked with weeds growing within the splits, untouched by rubber tires in many years. Only the soles of worn tennis shoes had touched such a desolated area, only to peer inside with curiosity, as these two young teens were doing. Their foreheads stuck to the dirty glass with their hands cupping their sockets like binoculars. This however was ironic seeing is how it was night-time, but habit prevailed.

"I don't believe that, Mike. I think he was electrocuted and caused all the games to go haywire. Science explains everything, simple conductivity issues. Besides, Litwak would never do such a thing, even if ghosts were real." the girl gaily replied before breathing on the glass and wiping away the fog with her sleeve. It did no use, the dust was inside. Mike scuffed his foot on the ground and felt the sole stick to an edge, and knelt down to feel what it was. The edges were small, and felt like quarters, hundreds of quarters that had been super glued down on the concrete in front of the doorway. This was the children's way of honoring Litwak after his death. Litwak was one of the kindest men in town, and was great with children of all ages. Even the adults were astounded when he made them feel like children again when they played in his arcade. He truly was missed by every child in town.

"Suzy, science can't always solve something. But we'll never know if we don't go in there for ourselves and take a look around. Now c'mon, I know a way inside. Its around back, follow me." Mike began a slow jog around the corner of the building, and Suzy followed, barely able to see him.

Mike wiggled the handle to the backdoor, which easily broke due to rust on the inside, and he opened the door. It squeaked loudly, and the dried dirt that sealed the door to the frame cracked and rained down lightly. The old smell of the dusty arcade blew outwards in a gust of sealed wind, set free by the open door. The smell was musty and thick, somewhat heavy to the lungs that took it in, causing Mike to wave away the dust in front of him for a cleaner breath. Suzy did the same as she followed behind him. The two stepped inside, close together for safety.

"Suzy, where's your flashlight?" Mike asked, slightly coughing. A few seconds passed as Suzy dug around her jacket pocket and grabbed the flashlight, flipping it on. The yellow light beamed at Mike's face and he squinted. His dark brown eyes were blinded by the sudden light that lit up his pale face, lined with grown chocolate hair that swept over his forehead. "Hey!"

"Sorry! Sorry." Suzy giggled as she aimed the light away from him, lighting up a small portion of the room. Rusted pipes, old moldy boxes, and sinking shelves lined the walls with an inch of dust on the floor. "Wow, this place is a dump. Can't imagine what the inside-inside looks like."

"It hasn't been touched in like what? 10 years? Everyone says the cops left everything inside just the way it was after they took Litwak to the morgue. My parents say they were too scared to go in and clean everything out, so it can't be too messy."

Suzy stepped to another door that would lead them deeper into the arcade. The light from her flashlight barely lit her up for Mike to see. Her hair was blonde, short and curled outwards with a hair band on her head to hold back her bangs. She wore small black glasses that she pushed upwards with her thumb often, and her cheeks were littered with light freckles.

"I don't think I wanna' go in anymore. Lets just go home." she said as she backed up from the door. Mike sighed and took the flashlight from her and put his hand on her scrawny shoulder.

"Don't you wanna' see what all the rumors about? We could be the only ones in school to actually know the truth. We could solve the biggest mystery in town!" he smiled as he slightly shook her excitedly. It was true, the shut down of Litwak's Family Fun Center was the biggest mystery in town. No one spoke of it, no one knew the answer. Not even the authorities knew exactly what happened, the only report they could confirm was a dead body and blank screen games.

"I'm scared, Mike. What if-" she stuttered out while crossing her fingers over, whittling them nervously. Mike put his hand over hers and seized her figiting, making her look at him for reassurance.

"Suzy, everything will be alright. I'm here with ya', what's the worst that could happen?" Mike smiled and opened the door slowly, and heard the echo of yet another creaky door break through its dusty seal. He shined the flashlight through as he stepped into a new room, and saw the ancient video games at a distance. The two walked down the dark hallway where the wallpaper began to peel downwards, passed the restrooms, and into the arcade room. Nothing but dull, gray, dusty machines lined every inch of the walls. Islands of big games, like the old Dance Dance Revolution platform and the Whack-a-Mole sat in the center of the room, along with motorcycle racers and flat screen TVs. Mike pointed the flashlight at every game, hardly seeing the screens that were covered in thick dust, but could make out easily recognizable games such as Sugar Rush and Hero's Duty. Every game was covered, and Suzy followed Mike, trying to read the names of the games.

"Wow. I remember all of these games." she breathed and pushed up her glasses, squinting to read 'PAC-MAN' on the side of a game console. Mike nodded as he spotted an old faded pink racing game with two seats.

"Sugar Rush." he read, smiling a bit. "I remember playing that game, there was this one character that I loved playing as. Forgot his name though, it was King...somethin'. Fastest race cart ever." he blew away the dust on the side of the console and spotted the racer with a black pony tail in a white kart. "Never saw her in the roster though."

"That was such a girl's game, Mike." Suzy laughed before she spotted a familiar game with a handy man on the side of the console, wearing a blue hat and holding a golden hammer. She wiped away the dust to see better and gasped.

"Psh, it was still fun." Mike sneered as he kept looking around.

"Mike, I remember this game, this was the game that bugged out on me on my birthday. All the characters were running around and the joystick was moving on its own. But the wrecking guy wasn't there. Wonder where he went?" she put her hand on her hip and tilted her head to the side, still puzzled from that day.

"Maybe he ran off?" Mike laughed jokingly and made his way over to the counter, where small prizes were held underneath a glass box with an old cash register that sat in the middle. "Hey, wonder if this things still full?" he said, pressing buttons on the register to hear the satisfying 'clicks'.

"No, Mike, that's Litwak's money!" Suzy scolded and waved him off.

"I'm not gonna take anything, calm down, jeez." he sighed and rolled his eyes as he began feeling underneath the counter, and slipped his fingers into the crack of the cabinets beneath the prize stand. "What's down here?"

"Probably spiders and more dust. Maybe a booby-trap."

"No, there's a bunch of buttons down here." Mike shined the flashlight in the cabinets to see a multitude of buttons with yellow faded labels beside them. Each button was differently colored, but so tempting to push.

"Don't push them, for all we know, those could be self-destruct buttons." Suzy wiped off the screen of Fix-It Felix Jr. and blew away the rest and sneezed. "Good heavens..."

"Lets see." Mike smiled as he pressed one button after another, until he reached a big red button, bigger than the others. He hummed to himself curiously and pressed the button, and a sound of whirring electricity buzzed throughout the walls and floors of the arcade. It almost seemed as if the floors vibrated and it felt like the walls were going to cave in. The lights flashed on row after row in a flicker, and the games powered on one by one. Music began to play from the games, yet they buzzed and skipped in somewhat of a synchronized way. Internal roulette games began to spin, the balls from the skeeball ramps let themselves loose and clanked against each other in sharp pitches of noise, and the skill cranes began to move on their own and drop onto faded prizes. The whole arcade that was once a desolated, dark, dusty graveyard of games, now buzzed and sang with life. Yet, it was all so eerie. Something wasn't right, the games were in sync with each other, their music put together sounds that were like words that couldn't be made out.

Suzy gasped and backed away from the games and glared at Mike with irritation. Her cheeks blushed red with anger that a mother would feel towards a disobedient child, and she stomped her foot with her fists balled up until her knuckles bleached white. "MIKE! What on earth do you think you're doing?!" she shouted furiously and Mike stood up quick and straight with his eyes wide.

"I didn't! I..-How was I supposed to know?!" he stuttered as he dropped the flashlight, confused and shaking nervously.

"I swear, if we get caught, I'm gonna-!" she held out her hands with tense fingers as if she was trying to strangle him from 10 feet away.

"Cheese and rice, Suzy, calm down! I can handle this." Mike growled as he kneeled back down to turn off the button.

"Turn it off! Turn it all off before somebody sees!"

"_No_!" yelled a voice, a high pitched, computerized voice that came from behind the two where the row of games sat. Suzy and Mike froze in their spot, assuming that it was a cop. Their eyes widened and they held their breath for a few seconds. Mike stood back up slowly, looking behind Suzy to see the source of the voice.

"Mike..." Suzy swallowed as she turned out to see as well, but there was no one behind her, only the flashing games.

"_Don't turn off the games, no_!" yelled the voice again, and Suzy instinctively turned her head towards Fix-It Felix Jr., where the sound came from, holding her breath.

"Who...who is that?" Mike swallowed hard as he slowly came up behind Suzy, looking at the game screen as well. The two could spot something moving in the pixelized penthouse on the screen, a little character of brown, mint, and black.

"_Please don't turn off the games_!" repeated the character that stood in the doorway of the penthouse. Her little pixels moved in odd ways and turned purple at times.

"Mike, did the game just talk to us?" Suzy whispered, not taking her eyes off the screen.

"_I did, and I beg you, don't shut me off_." the character pleaded.

Suzy gasped and backed up whilst grabbing Mike's black hoodie tightly between her fingers. "O-oh my god, it can hear us, Mike. It can hear us!"

"_My name is Vanellope, not 'it'_. _I need help. Please_." the little character known as Vanellope begged, her little pixels moving with her words.

Mike's jaw dropped, and he couldn't help but lean in towards the game. Suzy cried as she kept pulling at his hoodie. "Lets get out of here! Its haunted!" she yelped.

"No wait!" Mike tugged back to get closer to the game. "You're name is Vanellope?"

"_Yes. What are your names_?" Vanellope replied.

"I'm Mike. This is Suzy. How can you talk to us? Are you a ghost?"

"_Mike and Suzy... I'm not a ghost, and I've always been able to hear you, I could hear and see everyone in the arcade before the accident happened. I'm part of the game, Sugar Rush. We all were part of a game once_." Vanellope explained softly, looking up at the screen to see the two kids. In the game world, Vanellope was about their age; a teen. She was taller, thinner, and her hair that was still up in a pony tail was longer, much longer. Her legs were longer and more defined, as were her arms, chest, and waist. Since she had been out of her game for so long without resetting for years, her updated coding allowed her to age. It was a strange thing, and it never made any sense to her. Then again, she had been asleep for nearly 10 years, she wasn't even sure that she was older.

"You mean...like, all the video game characters could talk?" Mike asked, tilting his head to the side and cocked his eyebrow.

"What happened?" Suzy added, leaning in slightly as interest swept over her. This was a scientific phenomena, games communicating to the real world!

Vanellope hesitated to speak from a combination of faint memories and sorrow that flashed behind her eyes all too quickly. She warmed up and began to think, seeing each gruesome scene of the past fly by in red hues. She took a moment to speak.

"Turbo..." she finally responded with anger in her voice. "He destroyed...everything."

"Turbo?" Mike and Suzy asked simultaneously, exchanging looks.

"He was a racer that took over my game and disguised himself as our king. King Candy, he called himself." she said, only knowing who Turbo was from Calhoun. In their last moments, Calhoun had informed Vanellope as much as she could.

Mike gasped as he looked back at the pink racing game behind him with wide eyes, not believing Vanellope's words. "You mean, he wasn't really part of the game?"

"No. I don't know how he did it, and I don't know what he had against me. All I know is that he tried to keep me from reaching the finish line. I don't have any memory as to who I was or what my purpose was. All I know is that I was a racer, and he did everything in his power to keep me from doing the thing I loved most." Vanellope sighed and kicked the dirt in aggravation.

"What a jerk." Suzy huffed and crossed her arms before looking over at Mike. "Favorite character huh?"

"Hes a murderer... He killed my best friend, my only friend... We thought that by blowing up my game, he would've died, but somehow...he survived, and escaped. One by one, he took over every game, hacked its coding, killed everyone, and turned some of the arcade's most beloved characters into...monsters too. They were like his minions, helping him kill off the competition and imbedding codes into the games to keep them alive during an unplugging." Vanellope explained, and hung her head low. "Even me... Somehow, his coding got into mine, tied up like a knot that can't be undone unless there is a full game reset. That's how I survived. I ran into this game and protected the coding. Somehow I know how to hack, its like his knowledge was downloaded into mine. I've been in here ever since."

Suzy and Mike exchanged looks, trying to convince themselves that this was all nonsense, but their minds were too fascinated and tantalized by this. It was so crazy that it had to be true! Suzy looked back at the game and pushed her glasses up.

"Is...is there any way we can help?" she asked, but Vanellope turned away.

"It'd be too much to ask, and too dangerous." she sighed and pulled her ponytail over her shoulder to twirl the locks.

"C'mon, we're the only ones that know about all this, and you need help. There's gotta' be something we can do." Mike added.

"Even if you could help, it'd be too dangerous and useless." Vanellope shut her eyes and tried wishing away the memories.

"We'll do what it takes." Suzy said and took off her glasses. Mike knew she was serious, Suzy only took off her glasses if she meant business.

"Well...from the knowledge that I have, Turbo is unstoppable. Although...somthing tells me that Tapper knows what to do." Vanellope tapped her lips and turned around to face the kids, looking up at them through the giant console screen.

"Tapper?" Mike asked, and looked over his shoulder to see the game Tapper. There seemed to be a...blue and green blob of somesort in the corner, but the pixels made it blurry. "That game over there? How do you get from one game to another?"

"I go through the cord and into Game Central Station, and it takes me to all kinds of different games from there." Vanellope answered. Suzy peered in between the consols to see the cords lead into a multi-outlet converter and smiled.

"Woah..." she breathed in awe.

"I can go to Tapper's, but only so far." Vanellope said. "Turbo has imbedded a code where all characters can't move without someone to move them. It's like our feet are glued to the floor. If you wanna' help me, you have to play as me."

Mike and Suzy took in a breath and scratched the back of their heads. "That's it?" Mike asked.

Vanellope nodded, believing that the two wouldn't bother, until Suzy spoke.

"We can do it. You need to go to Tapper's? We'll get you there." she smiled and slipped her glasses back on. Vanellope looked up and smiled, but felt a deep fear in the pit of her stomach. She hadn't ventured out of Fix-It Felix Jr. in so long. She had no idea what was out there waiting for her, what was lurking in the games. All she knew was that Tapper held answers that could help her. But why Tapper? What could he possibly know that was important?

She wouldn't know until she met him.

_Wait...had she met him before? She couldn't recall if she did, how could she know that Tapper knew..OH forget it!_

"Vanellope? Who are you talking to?" Suzy asked, watching the girl stomp around and ask questions as if there were someone else in the game. Vanellope snapped out of it, not realizing that she was talking out loud. She was going insane, and she wasn't even plugged in for 10 minutes. This was very odd indeed.

"Oh...no one. Well, I'll get going. Be ready to move me around when I enter Tappers, okay?" Vanellope swallowed, and ran off screen.

Mike and Suzy looked at Tapper's and swallowed hard. "I can't believe we're doing this, Mike." Suzy sighed. "I'm not a gamer."

"But I am, and this girl needs help." he responded.

"This is crazy."

"Hehe it is. Now c'mon, get your game face on." Mike chuckled.

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><p>~End of Chapter 1~<p>

Well now we know how Vanellope survived the unplugging. However, we still don't know how Turbo was able to survive that explosion, but like Vanellope's split personality said; only Tapper will know. This is only game start, more will be revealed as we dive in deeper. Theres a lot more to Turbo than we see. Thank you and be sure to review if you enjoyed the first chapter, or have any speculations as to whats going on! Remember, this is a sequel to Nightmaric End. You will NOT understand whats going on if you don't read that story first!


	2. To Tapper's

Hey there, I know its been soooo long since I've last logged on and updated, real life has me running around with no time to draft new chapters and such. However, since the end of this school year is near, I have some time on my hands to continue this. So with careful planning, I present to you, chapter 2!

**.:RESTART:.**

This fanfiction is a sequal to _Nightmaric End_, after the arcade has been shut down. All rights belong to Disney. Intense blood, gore, violence and mild language is in store. Reader discretion is advised.

**.:Chapter 2:.**

* * *

><p>The echo of Vanellope's feet tapping along the wires that lined the tunnel of the cord banged in her head like heavy heartbeats. Her ears pulsated at each wave of sound that pierced them, taunting her with its tune of emptiness. Her eyes could hardly see what was in front of her, the darkness was tempting to consume her at any given moment. The only light that lit her way was the occasional minor explosion of sparks that climbed upwards from the course electricity that powered the game. Even that wasn't enough to keep her from bumping against the walls. She let her palm ride along the side of the wall to help guide her down the tunnel. As much as she wanted to hurry and free herself from the shadows of this lonely tunnel, a deep fear and anxiety festered within her, twisting her internals into nausea and raising her heartbeat until she could feel the veins expand and contract inside her muscles.<p>

She hadn't had enough time to consider what might lie within the halls of Game Central Station, it had been so long that she had forgotten what exactly happened there. She did however remember the screaming and chaos that took place there. Crowds of game characters running and shouting for their lives as the most horrifying virus took over and wreaked havoc among them. She could remember the loud gunfire that thundered in the great hall as the brave soldiers of Hero's Duty attempted to contain the monstrosity with no hope of prevail. Bombs and flash bangs, grenades and missiles were to their advantage, yet they didn't even phase Turbo.

He just...kept regenerating.

The thought of his presence possibly remaining in Game Central Station sent shivers down her spine. Her skin flushed of its color until her lips and cheeks faded to white from the intense fear that coursed throughout her being. She paused a moment in the tunnel as she saw dim, yellow and hazy light in the distance, indicating the end of the tunnel that opened to Game Central Station. Her stomach dropped and her breath slowed to a quiet shudder. The echos seized, leaving her lonely with the miserable silence. A pressure formed in her head at the absence of sound, her ears desperate for some sort of noise to comfort her, yet there was nothing. Not even a gust of wind was there to save her from the maddening silence.

'_I'm awake...where are you_?' she heard as a faint echo, but she couldn't pinpoint the direction it came from. She stopped in her tracks and looked all around, trying to spot a figure that the voice may have come from, but she saw nothing. She rubbed the inside of her ear with her finger and continued on her way. And so she walked towards the light, welcoming the echos of her footsteps that eventually faded as she reached the opening. The boxed cars of the trolley that once took passengers to and from Fix-It Felix Jr. was off-railed and laying on its side against the wall. Old blackened bloodstains littered that wall and covered the graffiti that once decorated it with two old rusted halos laying side-by-side on the floor. The splatter was horrendous, as Vanellope could only imagine whose it was and how it came to paint the wall in such a way.

She pursed her lips and looked away to block it from her thoughts. She stared out the main archway of the game and could already see the piles of ruins that awaited her on the outside. The faint light darkened such piles of rubble and created shadows that moved in the corners of her eyes, like phantoms of lost characters that perished there. She slowly stepped out of the archway and surveyed what was around her. The feeling of sorrow and shock took over her, for the remaining aftermath of the chaos was worse than what she had remembered. From left to right, she studied the area. The memories flowed back as fast flashbacks, no more than a split second long, played like a horrifying cinema in her mind.

'_Turbo-tastic!_'

The sound of his catchphrase rang in her head like a painful bell. He repeated it over and over as he mercilessly slaughtered his victims.

"No...no get out!" Vanellope held her ears and shut her eyes tight as she concentrated on removing the sounds from her mind. She began to glitch, purple pixels forging from her body until she disappearing beneath them for a half a second. The sound of slurred game mechanics sounded from her body as she re-materialized.

'_Turbo-tastic!_'

It boomed in her head like a bomb, and she fell to her knees. Her fingertips clawed at the sides of her head and buried themselves in her shiny black hair.

'_Come to me, Vanellope! My little gumdrop! Hoo-ha-ha-ha!_'

"Stop! Go away!" she cried out and breathed heavily until the sound of Turbo's voice slowly faded away from faint whispers to nothing. It was like madness was taking over her mind. She waited a few precious seconds in her place to ensure that the voices were gone, and she opened her eyes to see the old dusty floor that was covered in ash and shrapnel. She caught her breath and stood back up, dusting off the filth from her leggings. She fixed her ponytail and continued forward. Occasionally she climbed over piles of burnt debris that blocked a pathway leading to Tapper's. The path was lined with marks on the floor that resembled silhouettes of game characters that had burned into nothing before dissolving into broken code. Old rusted game coins and medals were scattered about, their bright gleam now faded like the good memories of Game Central Station. It sparked a sorrow in her heart to see them so useless now. She had always desired a medal, a coin, anything representing accomplishment in her life. Now that dream was nothing more than a wasted want, a pathetic and useless attempt to be something she could never be.

It was a few minutes until she reached the opening of Tapper's. The archway was dark and ominous and cold with a smell that wreaked of the stench of death and rotting wires that were rusted over. The blackness was like a monster that stood guard, waiting to eat anything that set foot inside. Her heartbeat quickened and her feet seemed heavier from the weight of fear. She had to go in though, Tapper knew something, and she had to speak to him if he were still alive. The fear was overcame with determination and she stepped closer. With a deep breath, she stepped into the tunnel and made her way down the wire. Several minutes passed by as she cautiously stalked the tunnel until she reached the barrier of the game. The wire floor ended and merged with old faded hardwood covered in dust and thickly dried bloodstains. This was as far as she could go by herself.

"Mike? Can you hear me?" Vanellope called out.

"Yeah, are you ready?" Mike replied as he gripped the joystick in his hand, ready to play.

"Yeah. Be careful, you can see everything from the game screen, I can't. Just walk me through until you see Tapper." Vanellope looked up as if she could see Mike, but all she could see was a dark ceiling covered in cobwebs. It was like talking to a ghost, but at this point, any voice, ghost or not, was like a gift to save her from the lonesome silence. She took in a calming breath to rid herself of the nervousness and stepped onto the hardwood, and immediately she felt the grip of the game hold her feet down in place. She couldn't move, she was vulnerable without Mike which brought a new kind of fear into her. Her life now depended on this human boy and she was powerless to protect herself without him. Her voice was shaky and she licked her lips.

"Okay, I'm in the game. Try to move me around."

In a few seconds, she felt her feet become free of the floor and she began to move around. Her legs didn't feel like they were hers, every movement was involuntary. It was a strange feeling, but she knew she had to get used to it. She knew that Mike was being cautious due to her slow movements, which she didn't mind. Mike steadily held the joystick, carefully maneuvering Vanellope through the bar towards the blob of green that continued to pulsate throb. Sounds came from the game as it throbbed, like a heavy heartbeat mixed with sloshing noises of ooze. Mike squinted as he leaned in to see the mass of green more clearly through the game screen, but the pixels were limited and couldn't reveal a clear picture.

The bar tables were filthy and covered in dust, ash, and broken glass. Shards of glass littered the floor, causing Vanellope's footsteps to create loud crunching sounds. She wanted to disappear whenever she made a footstep that made such loud sounds, she knew that whatever was in this bar, and there _was_ something there, knew of her presence already. It was only a matter of time before something jumped out and tore her to pieces. Her arms crossed over her chest to help hide her even though it did nothing to conceal her appearance. She kept walking towards the sound of beating and sloshing with steady and quiet breathing. The end corner of the bar was pitch black, and whatever was in the corner was hiding within the shadows unseen. However, she noticed a bright green fluid soaking the floor. It glowed dimly in the light and reflected off a rugged surface that resembled old dirty putty and skin. She could hear slow struggling breaths as she came closer, and the thumping became louder. What in Atari was making this noise?

"S-stop, Mike, stop!" Vanellope shuttered , and Mike seized to control her. "I think...I think this is close enough."

She waited a few minutes and just stared into the blackness, listening closely to the noises. It didn't seem to be getting closer or louder.

"_Survive..._" said a raspy miserable voice in a heaved manner, as if the being who produced this word was struggling to breathe. Vanellope gasped and held her hands over her mouth and her pupils shrank in terror.

"W-who...who are you? Come out of the dark and show yourself." she demanded nervously.

"_I...cant..._" the voice replied in whisper.

"Why not?"

A few seconds passed with the breathing becoming heavier and louder. Vanellope cleared her throat and stood frozen in her place, praying that whatever was speaking to her didn't attack. Then, in a solemn tone, the voice replied, taking in deep breaths between each word.

"_The...candle..._"

Vanellope looked all around her and spotted an old candle on the bar counter with a conveniently placed match next to it. Mike took the hint and moved Vanellope towards the candle, where she then picked up the match and held it to the wooden surface of the counter.

"_When...you see...me...don't...run...please..._" said the voice, and Vanellope bit her lip, only imagining what the creature would look like. She then struck the match and lit it and held the warm flame over the candle, lighting it. She took the handle in her hand and turned around, only to be utterly shocked and stricken with a fear and horror she had not prepared for. She dropped the candle and screamed, and the candle, with its bright orange light, rolled closer to the creature that was in the darkness.

It was a horrendous sight to see. It was a massive body of deformed flesh of pink and green and infected yellows and browns. The skin overlapped itself like melted wax, and sheets of metal armor, deformed and warped wrapped around the rotting flesh. The flesh itself has stuck and formed to the walls of the corners like glue, and green fluids seeped from the wrinkles of overlapped skin. No arms or legs were on the body, only a head, a head with a mustache, a red crooked bow, and the remains of a torn red and white-striped shirt that was halfway grown into the actual flesh. This was Tapper, or what remained of him.

His head hung low and weak, and the flesh that was once his chest, expanded and retracted slowly in struggled grunts and breaths. Green fluids dripped down the folds of his mass and from his lips as thick mucus and saliva, coating his uncombed filthy mustache. Strings of flesh hung down like vines and draped themselves across the ceiling and walls.

Vanellope backed up until she hit the bar counter and moved her bangs from her face to see more clearly. She began to whimper and shutter, her stomach twisted in illness, her skin tightened into goosebumps and her spine began to tingle with ripe fears.

"Are...are you...Tapper?" she stuttered, staying still in her place as Mike removed his hand from the joystick.

"_I am...the remnants...of Tapper..._" he replied quietly. The candle still continued to roll slowly, leaving sparks across the wooden floor.

"What happened to you?" Vanellope asked once the fear in her body lowered enough for her to breathe steady. Yet her guard wasnt down, she was still frightened of this unnatural sight. Never had she seen such a mutated mess, he looked to be in pain all over, she could see it in his eyes that were dim with life, as if they begged for death. To her, death for this poor character was a more welcoming fate that this.

"_Turbo...infected me..." _he said, and took in another breath._ "He turned us...into these monsters...He tried to...turn me...but the game shut down...before I transformed...completely...I am...incomplete...Still alive...still sentient...but incomplete..._"

Vanellope's face turned into a look of pity and sorrow, and she took a moment to fully take in Tapper's appearance. This was truely a sad sight to see, a broken man that was once normal, pain-free. He had his own game, characters from all over Game Central Station came to him for help and advice and to vent to rid themselves of their own pain. Now look at him, permanently stuck to the walls and floor, forced to live as a blob of flesh and metal in constant agonizing pain, and no one around to help him.

"Something told me to come to you. A voice. I dont know who you are, but I feel deep inside that you know how to help me and make all of this better."

Tapper took in another breath, seeming to struggle more and more.

"_We...are a hive...a single mind...We know all that...Turbo knows...You are apart...of him...We are...apart...of him...We share his memories...his knowledge...his feelings...his insanity..._" he explained. Vanellope thought a moment and pieced together parts of her own memories, and all she could remember was Turbo's cold hard hand smacking her through the game barrier of Sugar Rush. Ever since then, she has glitched a difference color and is able to survive things other characters couldnt. This explained how she was able to survive the game shutdowns.

"You think...when he hit me, he-"

"_Infected you?...Yes...but not like us...You inherited...his ability...to survive unpluggings...and travel through games...We...the guardians of...his weaknesses...are infected...with his evil...his mutations..._"

"'We'? Who is 'we'? Are there more like you? What are his weaknesses?" Vanellope asked, feeling a surge of fear run down her back and a deep anxiety that caused all of her questions to swirl into a storm.

"_Yes...there are 3 guardians...I was to be...the forth...the guardian of knowledge..._"

"Who are the other three?"

"_Princess Peach...Sonic...and Pac-Man...They guard the artifacts...that can...harm Turbo..._"

"What are the artifacts?"

"_No...time..._" as he breathed slower, the candle bumped against the wall, and the flame licked the wall and blackened it until it caught fire. The fire was small, but it quickly spread and began to travel to the floor and over the long strands of flesh of Tapper. He didn't budge as he began to burn. The flames grew taller and taller with each passing second and the smell of burning flesh permeated through the dense air. Heat filled the bar quickly, and smoke fogged up what little light there was. Vanellope gasped and yelled for Mike, and Mike backed her away from the flames.

"_Vanellope...find the artifacts...take them to Sugar Rush...Defeat Turbo...Once he is gone...the games will reset...Go now...Let me burn...Survive Vanellope...Survive..._" Tapper breathed and hung his head back down low, and the flames quickly consumed him, burning him alive. The bar quickly caught fire, and Mike maneuvered Vanellope between the bar tables until she was back in the opening. The air was cooler there and the smoke gagged her. She coughed and began to run on her own now that she was out of the game. She covered her mouth with her mint green sleeve to catch her breath after coughing into it. Her long ponytail swung from side to side as she ran, and she could see the light at the end of the tunnel leading to Game Central Station. She finally made it and ran out of the opening, and slowly came to a halt. She looked back into the tunnel and took in a deep clean breath, and wiped the sweat from her brow.

She now had time to think of Tapper's words. She sat down on a pile of debris and held her chin up with her fist as her elbows rested on her knees.

Turbo has somehow transformed some of the most popular game characters into monsters that were guarding artifacts that could be used against him. What could they be guarding thats so important? Afterall, Turbo is a virus, nothing could harm him. Could it? And these voices she could hear in her head, were those Turbo's thoughts? It did make sense, there was a part of Turbo within her, a deep-rooted connection that intertwined their coding and thoughts, though it was weak. The moment the two had glitched and touched, the coding bugged out and mashed their codes together. It was an odd occurence, but without that event, Vanellope would be gone with everybody else.

Perhaps it may have been better that way...

Nonetheless, Vanellope now had a mission, and she stood to her feet. If she wanted to make things right, she needed to find one of these 'Guardians', take it down, and retrieve its' artifact. And from what she could concur, each Guardian was in its' own game. She would start with Princess Peach, who resided in the Mario game. She could only hope that level 1 would be easy for her.

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><p>There you have it, now again, I know its been a while and time is short, so if there are any spelling errors, its because I simply lost my extra time to triple check. I'll eventually go back and fix whatevers messed up. Thank you for reading, and I deeply apologize for the very long wait. This story aint done yet! Now Tapper, eh hes about done, poor thing, but at least he was able to give some words of wisdom and tell Vanellope what she needed to do before he perished. Can't wait to see the Peachy Princess!<p> 


	3. Princess Peach

Yep, I finally decided to update. No use in letting a good idea go to waste. Besides, you guys deserve it after all the reviews and favs and all that, it really does mean a lot. So heres chapter 3 for you all.

**.:RESTART:.**

This fanfiction is a sequal to _Nightmaric End_, after the arcade has been shut down. All rights belong to Disney. Intense blood, gore, violence and mild language is in store. Reader discretion is advised.

**.:Chapter 3:.**

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><p>Vanellope wasted no time in running towards the Mario entrance, dodging debris as she went. When she entered the tunnel, she could see old rotted mushrooms and tainted coins scattered around the opening. This was the place alright. Vanellope ran down the tunnel, not minding the darkness so much as before, but a feeling of worry and anxiety still loomed over her. Who knew what awaited at the end of this tunnel? It was nerve-racking. Mutations to say the least were disturbing enough, and the imagery of what these things may look like combined with Turbo's DNA was even more so.<p>

The light at the end of this tunnel was a bit brighter than the last two, and she slowed her pace, coming to a fast walk rather than a run. She learned to quiet her footsteps, since she thought that the element of surprise was in her favor. Maybe it was? This had Vanellope thinking; If these mutations worked as a hive, then they obviously had a hive mind. They thought and acted as one. This made her gulp in a surge of fear, for she knew that if she alerted just one of these creatures, the others would know about it and prepare themselves.

Oh Mod, what had she gotten herself into?

She came to the end of the tunnel and waited before quietly calling out to Mike.

"Hey, I'm here." she looked up to the ceiling of the tunnel as she called him. Mike replied almost instantly.

"Ready when you are."

Vanellope swallowed hard and took a breath before stepping out of the tunnel and onto the old brown grass that was once lush green. It crunched and seemingly turned to ash beneath her feet when she began to walk atop of it. The game from her point of view was only two yards wide, but the path ahead was unbelievably long and almost endless. She was almost astonished at just how basic this game was and let her eyes roam freely while Mike moved her forward carefully and slowly.

"You uh, know how to play this game?" she asked nervously as she looked over the edges of the game. It was a bottomless black, smokey abyss on both ends. Ash fell from the skies, coating Vanellope's black hair. She felt Mike make her jump over square blocks of grass and broken bricks here and there, blowing up the piles of ash as she landed each time.

"Yeah, I played it almost every day as a kid...Well, younger kid." he comforted her with confidence in his voice. Vanellope indeed took comfort in his answer and continued to look around in her environment. It was dreary and drained of color, hazy, and charred. Broken and rusted coins laid about in her path, and some would even crunch into dust when she stepped on them. Flowers were wilted all along the path, dried and dead, lifeless for so many years. Even the clock at the top right hand corner was lifeless and broken, scattering numbers all about in broken pixels. The whole game was a desolate broken mess. It was saddening to Vanellope to see such a wreck of a once beautiful game.

The first level was incredibly easy and unnaturally quiet. The jump from the tallest stairs might have actually been the hardest part since the landing hurt Vanellope's ankles. She continued forward and looked up at the flag that flew in the cold soot-filled wind, and saw Turbo's logo printed upon it. A look of sorrow and anger draped over her face as the bitter image burned in her eyes. It was time for level two.

_Underground_.

When Vanellope entered the broken castle behind Turbo's tall-standing flag, she felt her body warp and pixelate and she continued to walk forward involuntarily. A rusted green tunnel awaited her. She held her breath in fear and shut her eyes as she entered, letting the cold rotting darkness consume her.

A few moments passed as the tunnels loaded, and the atmosphere quickly changed to a cold, damp, dark place. Sounds of water dropping from afar echoed all about like an empty cave, and slime coated the ground. The smell of rotting flesh permeated through the air, making Vanellope's face twist into a look of disgust. She pulled the collar of her hoodie over her nose to help stifle the smell.

"Eugh, smells like a sewer in here." she commented in illness as her stomach churned at the strong stench, but Mike didn't reply and he stopped her movements. He peered at the screen in disbelief, but the pixels were distorted. "Mike? You there?" she added as she looked up.

"Vanellope, whats that in front of you?" Mike asked, dreading the answer to come. Vanellope looked forward, but the darkness was too thick. The sound of Mike's trembling voice was all too uncomfortable as she too dreaded what was in front of her.

"I...I can't see." she shook. As much as she didn't want to get closer to whatever was in front of her, she knew she had no choice. The only way out was forward. However, little did either of the two know that something was watching them from above, hiding out of sight from the screen and in the darkness. Mike brought Vanellope closer to what he saw on the screen, and Vanellope's eyes widened in shock and agonizing fear.

There, against broken blue and gray blocks of bricks, sat the corpse of Mario himself, half-rotted with his head brutally ripped off his body. His head had been nailed to the block of bricks with a long tainted-white needle of some kind like that of a porcupine, and left only a few inches of space between his neck and body. A look of pain was still carved across his face, even in death, and his body was mangled in abnormal ways like his bones had been snapped one by one in different directions. Vanellope held her mouth and prevented a shriek as she gazed upon the body. She tried to look away by taking her eyes and glueing them to the ground, but it was not a better solution when she read "HERO" across the ground, written in Mario's own blood. She stood in the middle of the word and tried desperately to lift her legs off it, but they were glued to the floor without Mike moving her for her.

"What is it?" Mike asked as he noticed Vanellope's reaction.

"Just keep going! Please, I don't wanna stay here longer!" she pleaded with terror and sobs in her voice. Mike wasted no time in moving her away from the body and jumped over it. The creature that watched from above moved with Vanellope, and let out a long quiet hiss. Vanellope gasped as she heard the echo of it and looked around her. Nothing but blackness. She could feel something stalking her, watching her, waiting for her to slip up in the slightest way. Her heart pounded against her chest and she continued to hold her hoodie's collar around her nose, it comforted her in the darkness.

"Vanellope, what was it that you saw back there?" Mike asked, and Vanellope shivered and shut her eyes as she tried to rid her mind of the horrific sight.

"It...was Mario." she sobbed, and Mike needed no more of an answer. "Mike, I'm scared, I feel like somethings watching me."

"Don't be scared, I'm right here, I know this game inside and out. We can do this." Mike said soothingly. Vanellope nodded and controlled her breathing.

But as a few silent seconds went by...

**CRASH!**

Something large had smashed onto the ground in front of Vanellope, causing bricks and slime to fly off of the sides of the game. Vanellope screamed and Mike moved her backwards to avoid the large fuzzy object. Once the dust cleared, Mike could clearly see what was on the screen. It was big, it was mutated, and it was pink. Vanellope coughed at the dust and looked up to see what had landed in front of her, and what she saw made her heart skip several beats. Her pupils shrank and she couldn't even find it in her to scream a second time.

The figure had bright soulless red eyes that lit up the darkness around it. Long scraggly and tangled blonde curls hung over its twisted face, hiding most of it. It was tall, metallic, and looked half-starved with a feminine chest, but the breasts were pointed in an unattractive fashion. It looked like the body of King Cybug, only more wasp-like with a down-curved thorax and a thick, razor sharp stinger on the end. What was once a bustle, now served as decorative armor over its thorax and four legs. A torn corset served as its chest, and its golden crown was tall, bent, and resembled horns like a dragon. It had long pink wasp wings that buzzed and twitched as the thing swayed from side to side like a cobra, examining Vanellope below like a hunter and prey. Vanellope screamed and backed up against a brick wall, and Mike even screamed with her.

"What the hell IS that?!" he yelled as he looked for a way to escape, but the wall behind Vanellope was too tall to jump over. Vanellope knew what this thing was and gripped the edge of a block of bricks and felt one brick come loose in her grip.

"Its Princess Peach, the guardian!" she shouted. Princess Peach held her long jagged arms out to the side in a royally fashion and leaned down closer to Vanellope and let out a blood-curdling screech that was deafening and painful. Her eyes lit up her dark face, revealing that her jaw was missing but had two large mandibles that were attached to the roof of the inside of her mouth. The mandibles opened wide as she screeched, letting purple saliva spray across Vanellope's face and hang from her razor sharp teeth in strings. Vanellope screamed at the ugly thing's face and gripped the loose brick before swinging it at Princess Peach's head. The brick shattered on impact, and Princess Peach screeched again in pain and held her face with her long sharp claws. Mike reacted instantly and made Vanellope run underneath Princess Peach to get passed her while the mutation was distracted.

"I have an idea!" Vanellope yelled to Mike.

Princess Peach continued to screech before letting out a growl and angrily looked at the wall where Vanellope once stood. Her eyes widened in confusion as the girl was now gone. Low bellowing growls and gurgles erupted from the thing's throat as it scanned the whole area, and even looked under her own thorax, looking for her prey. She looked off to the sides as well, becoming frustrated as she did.

"Yoohoo!" called Vanellope, making Princess Peach look up, and there her prey was, standing on the top level of bricks with a few broken blocks on the very edge. Princess Peach's eyes widened as Vanellope pushed the blocks of bricks off the edge, and with no reaction time, they hit Princess Peach on her face and head, bending her crown and breaking off one of her mandibles. The sound of crashing bricks and crunching bones echoed throughout the tunnels. Princess Peach let out a scream of pain and held her face once again. Vanellope was shocked that the impacts didn't kill it, but was more shocked when Princess Peach began to smash the ground with her claws, breaking the floor and started to burrow into it. She still screamed and snarled as she dug the hole with her claws, and disappeared faster than Vanellope expected.

Mike let out a sigh of relief and chuckled.

"HA! Take that you overgrown bumblebee! I hate wasps..." he said in triumph, but Vanellope shook her head as a sudden wave of courage overcame her. It was _too_ easy, and not only was Princess Peach still functioning, no artifact was left behind. This wasn't done yet.

"Mike, follow her." Vanellope said as she looked down into the gaping black hole in the ground. Mike widened his eyes and cleared his throat.

"But...you beat her, she's gone."

"No, just wounded. Follow her, I need that artifact and we're not leaving until we get it." she argued. Mike waited a few seconds before giving in.

"Alright...here goes nothin'. Brace yourself." he said before making Vanellope jump into the black hole. Vanellope continued to fall for several seconds before feeling the tunnel come to a gradual curve. She slid across the tunnel on her feet first, then slid the rest of the way down on her back until the warm orange glow of light appeared faintly before her. The tunnel came to a horizontal direction, and Vanellope slid to a gradual stop. She got up and walked the rest of the way until there was yet another hole in the ground. This is where the light source came from and she could smell sulfur and brimstone. The light looked like hell fire, and Vanellope peered out of the hole upside-down to see a pool of molten lava with a rickety wooden bridge going across it.

No sign of Princess Peach...

With that, Vanellope jumped down from the tunnel opening and landed on her feet before the bridge. She didn't dare set foot on the old thing, and looked around to try to find the mutation. She spotted something across the bridge however, and noticed the blonde hair. All she could see was a head, looking downwards and away from Vanellope, moving as if it were crying. Vanellope squinted suspiciously and watched the figure. She couldn't tell if it was Princess Peach or some other game character.

Her question was soon answered when the head turned around and the monstrosity's face was once again revealed with only one mandible. Princess Peach stood up, standing even taller now as she eyed Vanellope with anger and hunger. Vanellope took a step back as Princess Peach began to crawl closer, stepping on the bridge. Somehow it managed to support her enormous weight, and she raised her stinger. Vanellope gasped and shouted.

"Mike, watch the stinger!"

Princess Peach, with a jerk of her thorax, shot a long stinger towards Vanellope like a spear. It was the same exact thing that had been stuck in Mario's head! Mike made Vanellope dodge the stinger and moved her behind a block of bricks for cover. Princess Peach began to scream and growl over and over again, continuing to shoot stingers at the brick Vanellope hid behind.

"What do we do?" Mike asked, scared and panicking. Vanellope gasped and widened her eyes.

"I thought you knew this game inside and out!"

"I never made it passed the boss level!"

Vanellope face palmed and thought for a moment. She closed her eyes, calming herself down and ignoring the horrific noises coming from Princess Peach, until she managed to figure out an idea.

"Okay...Mike, move me on the bridge where the first post is." she said calmly. Mike swallowed hard.

"Post?"

"Where the rope is tied to keep the bridge up. I have an idea, just do as I say exactly when I say it." Vanellope took command and looked over the block. Another stinger flew towards her head and she ducked back behind the block. The stinger _whooshed_ as it flew by like a bullet.

"Okay, I hope you know what you're doing." Mike said before spotting a break between Princess Peach's stingers. He made Vanellope jump and run to the bridge.

"Okay that's it, now when I say jump, make me jump!" Vanellope ordered as she braced herself. Princess Peach hissed as she readied her thorax, reloading her stingers. Vanellope glared back and seemed to hiss in her own way, ready to take this monster down.

"Bring it, you skinny pink bitch!" Vanellope shouted in a rage, making Princess Peach roar in fury. She slammed both her claws on the bridge, making the whole game shake violently, and fired a stinger. "Jump!" Vannelope shouted, and Mike made her jump. The stinger missed her by only a few centimeters and hit the post of the bridge. Instantly, the rope snapped and one by one, the planks of the bridge fell into the boiling lava. Vanellope landed just on the very edge of where the bridge started and watched the bridge fall. Princess Peach screeched as she tried to back up, the bridge fell too fast, and her along with it. Princess Peach hit the lava and began to melt, sinking as she did. Gruesome screams filled the air as the mutation thrashed all around, trying to escape her ever-so-slow death. Her hair caught flames and burned off her scalp and her crown wilted as it too melted, her eyes exploded from her skull with steam following afterwards, and she sunk deeper into the lava. Lava fell down into her throat, gurgling and muffling her screams until nothing but bubbling lava came from her mouth. Soon, the only thing that stuck out of the lava was her claw, and eventually, it too sunk below the surface. Vanellope found this hard to watch, but took gratitude in watching Princess Peach's death. The arcade was now one monster short.

Then, after a few seconds of silence, something erupted from the lava and flew towards Vanellope. Before it could hit her, it stopped and made itself clear. An orange, yellow, and white flower with lush green petals floated in the air before her with light emitting from it. Its two black slits of eyes gazed at Vanellope with comfort, and called out to her.

"The artifact..." she breathed and gently reached out and grabbed it. She held it with great care and smiled while Mike celebrated in the background.

"Finally! That thing was starting to creep me out." Mike laughed in victory. Vanellope put the Fire Flower in the pocket of her hoodie and nodded with a smile.

"Alright, now let's get out of here, this place is giving me the creeps." she said, and Mike nodded.

"With pleasure!"

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><p>Tadah! First guardian taken down. Of course, since its the first guardian, it had to be easy. Princess Peach was fun to create, and even she scares me since I deeply fear wasps. (Not kidding, I have literally thrown small children in front of me if I see a wasp and take off running) No guardian is the same, nor the mutation. I also decided to make Vanellope grow into a more mature and brave young lady. After seeing so much horror, it makes you numb. Mario was a hero, but I guess Princess Peach killed him to take the Fire Flower while he tried talking some sense into his lover. Tisk tisk...<p>

Review if you like it, it drives me to update.3


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